The 12 Highest Paid Actors in TV

Top earners pull in $1M per episode
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 5, 2016 2:25 PM CDT
The 12 Highest Paid Actors in TV
Kaley Cuoco makes $1 million per episode of the "Big Bang Theory."   (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

It takes an estimated $2.5 million to make an episode of Game of Thrones—if that episode shows only five actors on screen without makeup, wardrobe, or sets. What's crazy is that those five actors aren't even the highest paid on TV. Here's Variety's list of the 12 highest paid TV actors, based on estimated salary per episode.

  • Jim Parsons: $1 million, Big Bang Theory
  • Kaley Cuoco: $1 million, Big Bang Theory
  • Johnny Galecki: $1 million, Big Bang Theory
  • Lauren Graham: $750,000, Gilmore Girls
  • Alexis Bledel: $750,000, Gilmore Girls
  • Mark Harmon: $525,000, NCIS
  • Kevin Spacey: $500,000, House of Cards
  • Peter Dinklage: $500,000, Game of Thrones
  • Lena Headey: $500,000, Game of Thrones
  • Kit Harington: $500,000, Game of Thrones
  • Emilia Clarke: $500,000, Game of Thrones
  • Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: $500,000, Game of Thrones
Click for the full list, or see the highest-grossing actors of all time. (More actors stories.)

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